COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS GOAL

All of the state’s 169 P-12 superintendents and local board chairs signed the pledge – known as the Commonwealth Commitment to College and Career Readiness – in 2011. (In Kentucky, five public school districts do not have high schools). Each of the districts had a unique goal based on increasing its 2010 college- and career-readiness rate by 50 percent by 2015.

Somerset Independent School District had a goal for at least 69% of our high school students to graduate college- and career-ready in 2015. In reality, 73.3% graduated ready as measured by the Unbridled Learning Accountability model.

Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt recognized Somerset Independent School District at the Kentucky School Boards Association conference in Louisville on February 27.

“As a result of the commitment being met, at least 15,000 more students statewide graduated in 2015 than did in 2010 ready for postsecondary opportunities,” he said. “This is tremendous, and puts the Commonwealth on the right track as we look to build on the accomplishments of the past 25 years and provide each and every child with a world-class education that will lead them to success in their postsecondary endeavors, in the job market and life.”

In 2010, only 34 percent of Kentucky’s high school students were considered ready for college and careers. That rate jumped to 66.8 percent in 2015, based on Unbridled Learning accountability results released last fall.

The Commonwealth Commitment was tied to the passage of Senate Bill 1 (2009), which required that P-12 and postsecondary education leaders produce a plan to reduce the number of high school graduates needing remediation when they enter college by 50 percent – effectively saving students from paying tuition for remedial courses for which they do not earn college credit and increasing the likelihood they will persist in college and graduate with a degree.